‘Big Brother 17’: Is Vanessa Rousso Or Shelli Poole Most In Trouble? [Spoilers]

When Sunday’s episode of Big Brother 17 wrapped up, viewers saw Becky Burgess put Shelli Poole and Steve Moses on the block. She made it clear to her allies that Vanessa Rousso was the real target. As Rousso told the diary room camera, she was worried she might be backdoored because of Burgess’ unwillingness to strike a deal.

Becky, who has been effectively using both sides of the house up until this point, seemed confident she’d have no problem getting Vanessa evicted. However, spoilers from the Big Brother 17 live feeds reveal that the process might have more roadblocks than she anticipates.

Warning: Spoilers from the Big Brother 17 live feeds to follow.

Steve won the veto competition Saturday and during Monday’s ceremony he removed himself from the block. Becky named Vanessa as the replacement nominee. Most people in the house knew in advance that the blindside was about to happen, including Vanessa’s close ally Austin Matelson, whom Becky told a few hours before the ceremony.

A quick tally of the votes, immediately following the ceremony, would have a tie as the probable result. Steve, Austin, Liz Nolan, and Julia Nolan to evict Shelli, and James Huling, Meg Maley, Jackie Ibarra, and John McGuire to evict Vanessa. Becky, as the tie breaker, would certainly vote to evict Vanessa.

But things change in the Big Brother house.

After Becky spent much of Monday gleefully predicting a Vanessa eviction, a plan to flip the house in Vanessa’s favor began to brew. The plan came from a seemingly unlikely source: James. Immediately after Vanessa was put on the block, she told James, Meg, and Jackie that Becky was playing both sides and was not trustworthy. Although Meg and Jackie apparently dismissed this information, it seemed to get into James’ head.

James began to float the idea of trying to convince Austin and the twins to vote to save Vanessa. Unbeknownst to James, that’s something they would be perfectly happy to do. Vanessa seems like a big target now, and it might benefit James and his allies to keep a bigger target in the house.

James is no fan of Shelli’s. It had been James who put up Shelli and Clay last week, and he wanted Shelli to go home. She didn’t, and she obviously blames him for targeting her showmance partner Clay. That means Shelli is gunning for James, while Vanessa might not be.

James also gained ammunition to target the couple last week after they exposed aspects of their alliance, including Austin’s alter ego Judas, in order to convince James to keep them.

As Big Brother Network recounted Tuesday’s events, the plan to formally flip the house and keep Vanessa was solidified late in the day. James, Meg, Jackie, Austin, Liz, and Julia are all on board, and Vanessa even made a deal with James to make it “official” — as “official” as things can get in the Big Brother house.

Thursday’s live eviction is still a long time away, so the plan can still change. But for the moment, Shelli Poole is the bet for the first to go home during the double eviction episode.